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Revolution 9

Sound collage.

John Lennon: Vocals, mellotron, tape loops
George Harrison: Vocals, tape loops
Yoko Ono: Humming, tape loops

Recorded June 6, 10, 11, 20, 21 1968.

Available on:
The Beatles (The White Album)

Revolution 9 was a mixture of tape loops consisting of sound effects that were put together by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, with some contributions from George Harrison.

Some of the sound effects used in the collage were:

Producer George Martin saying: "Geoff...put the red light on." This was distorted with heavy echo and played repeatedly.

A choir, supplemented by violins played backwards.

A symphonic piece, chopped up and played backwards.

An extract from the orchestrial overdub of A Day In The Life, repeated over and over.

Mellotron, played by John, played backwards.

A voice repeating "number nine." The identity of the voice is unknown, but it was taken from an examintion tape for the Royal Academy of Music. Lennon made a loop of it and faded the voice in and out.

Miscellaneous symphonies and operas.

John and George Harrison reading out random lines of prose.

John's lines included:

Personality complex
onion soup
economically viable
industrial output
financial imbalance
the watusi
the twist
take this brother, may it serve you well

George Harrison's lines were:

Eldorado
There ain't no rule for the company freaks! (With John, whispered six times over)

Paul McCartney was in the USA when Revolution 9 was recorded, and did not take part in creating the sound collages. It's worth noting, however, that Paul had recorded a sound collage on 5 Janaury 1967, entitled Carnival Of Light, that was never used on a Beatles record.

Serial killer Charles Manson again managed to misinterpretate a Beatles song. Where Lennon shouts "right," Manson heard "rise," and thought this was a message for the black community to rise against the white middle class. The word "rise" was found painted in blood at one of Manson's murder scenes.

Revolution 9